Potato slicing machine



Dec. 15, 1959 N. B. HENRY POTATO SLICING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept. 2, 1955 FlG.2

INVENTOR.

NELSON a. may

38g II ATTORNEY Dec. 15, 1959 N. B. HENRY POTATO sucmc MACHINE FiledSept. 2, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR. NELSON B. HENRY AT TORNEYDec.' 15, 1959 r N. B. HENRY POTATO sucmc MACHINE Filed Sept. 2; 1955 I5Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR. NELSON B. HENRY ATTORNEY United States PatentPOTATO SLlClN G MACHINE Nelson B. Henry, Decatur, Ga.

Application September 2, 1955, Serial No. 532,166

11 Claims. (Cl. 146-165) This invention relates to slicing apparatus andis particularly concerned with stationary blade apparatus forsuccessively slicing articles which are caused to travel in a path ofmovement relative to such stationary blades.

While certain aspects of the present inventive concept may be broadlyapplicable to the slicing of various types of material, the invention asherein presented is particularly adapted for the slicing of potatoes inpreparation for the treatment thereof to form potato chips. In thepreparation of slices of potatoes for such subsequent cooking, certainfactors are essential in order to provide for the most efiicient andeffective preparation of the slices. One important factor in thepreparation of the slices is to provide for a uniform thickness of slicesince it will be understood that if the slices vary in thicknessrelative to one another, the cooking time required will vary and hence anon-uniform product will result. It is also important to provide for thesmooth surface slicing of the potato since, if the surface of the cut isrough and uneven, more of the starch cells are opened and since thestarch forms the major portion of the finished potato chip, thefracturing of the cells produces a loss in weight which may render theoperation uneconomical. Also the breaking of a great number of starchcells produces a surface starch which must be removed, preferably bywashing the slices preparatory to cooking to prevent the surface starchand the water contained in the potatoes from forming a paste which wouldcause the slices to stick together when they are immersed in the hot fatused in the cooking process. Another important factor in the manufactureof the potato chips is the fact that the heat consumed in the boiling ofthe chips in the fat used is a material element of production cost.Therefore should adjustments of equipment requiring shut down benecessary, a severe loss is entailed. Inefficient and uneconomic resultshave also followed from attempts to successively slice articles ofwidely different sizes. Where large and small potatoes areindiscriminately mixed in their supply to the cutting operation, thesmaller potatoes are not properly held in position for slicing and thiscondition continues until the larger preceding potatoes are sliced tothe extent that its height is diminished such that it is less than theheight of the following small potato. The result is a nicking andpartial slicing of such smaller potatoes pending the time that they areproperly held in slicing position. The fragmentary slices produced fromthe smaller potatoes during this interim are for the most part a totalloss as they are unsuitable for the production of marketable chips.

It is therefore among the primary objects of the present invention toprovide an improved slicing machine particularly adapted for the uniformsmooth slicing of potatoes in preparation for the cooking of the slicesto provide potato chips.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a slicingapparatus of the type defined in which the slices provided are ofuniform thickness throughout the entire slice and wherein the thicknessof one slice is uniform "ice provide a slicing apparatus in which thesliced surface formed by the operation is smooth and wherein thedisruption of starch cells of the potato is maintained at a minimum.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus ofthe character described in. which adjustments of apparatus particularlyas to the thickness of the slice being formed may be readily madewithout terminating the operation of the machine and one in which whenknife changes require. termination of operation, such termination may belimited to a minimum interval of time. t

It is also among the primary objects of the invention to provide in anapparatus of the character described means for segregating the potato asto size as each batch of potatoes is fed into the slicer.

With these and numerous other objects, features and advantages of thepresent invention in view, reference may be had to the followingspecification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly broken away showing one preferredembodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of that form of the invention shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a central sectional view through the supply hopper of thatform of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the hopper and upper supplychamber of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the rotary shell of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a reduced perspective view of the rotary shell of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a reduced detail sectional view showing the presentation ofthe articles to the fixed cutter blades.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the cutting structure of the presentinvention.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail view taken on lines 9--9 of Fig. 7.

t Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on lines 1010 ofFig. 7.

P Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on lines 1111 of That form of theinvention herein presented by way of illustration may be generallycharacterized as providing a feed hopper including means preferably inthe form of parallel conical rollers by which an indiscriminate sizedgroup of potatoes may be fed from the hopper in the order of their size.From the feed hopper, the potatoes are delivered to a supply chamber andthence to a rotary shell that distributes potatoes into arcuatedownwardly inclined tunnels which receive the potatoes and pass eachpotato successively over the cutting edge of a plurality of fixedcutting blades so as: to form successive slicing cuts on each potatodelivered from the supply chamber. One of the features of the presentinvention is the provision of an adjustability of the conveying surfacefor the potatoes with respect to the fixed cutting blades so as toinsure rapid accurate adjustment of the thickness of the slice. Anotherfeature of the invention is the provision of cutting edges of arcuateform which provide for the angular slicing of the article as a means toinsure a smooth cut surface thereof and a further feature is theprovision of readily removable and replaceable blades insuring a minimumof down time when change thereof is necessary.

Referring to the drawings illustrating one preferre structuralembodiment of the present inventive concept, the reference numeral 10generally indicates: a potato. feed hopper to which potatoes may bemechanically. delivered or automatically conveyed, e.g. by bucket-typeconveyors. It is important to note that in operation of the device batchfeeding is contemplated in that each batch of potatoes is sliced to suchas extent that the last potato 'of the batch is so reduced in heightthat it will not interfere with the small potatoes first entering fromthe succeeding batch. Within the hopper ltifthere is provided a pair ofspaced parallel sorting rolls 11 of generally frusto-conicalconfiguration, the wider ends being positioned at the point of deliveryof the potatoes. Within the walls of the'hoppe'r, guard plates 12 areprovided extending over the 'outer edges of the sorting rolls 11 so asto definea central diverging downwardly sloped path between the rollersthrough which the potatoes may be delivered. The rolls 11 are preferablydriven, both in the same direction, by means of chain 13 trained oversprockets 14 on the ends of the rollers. A drive for the sprockets isprovided by reduction gearing indicated at 15 which in turn is driven bybelt 16 trained over pulley 17 on the shaft 18, which shaft in turnisdriven by belts '19 of a primary drive motor shaft 20. As indicated at21 the discharge to the hopper 10 is directly under the narrowerportions of the delivery space formed between the rollers 11 and thus asthe potatoes are delivered to' the hopper 10, smaller potatoes willimmediately travel downwardly between the closest surfaces of therollers 11. Larger'potatoes will be delayed in their passage betweenrollers due to the necessity of their moving longitudinally thereof toregister with a space of sufiicient breadth for their passage. Hence,while potatoes of indiscriminate 'size maybe loaded into the hopper 10,he arrangement is .such that the potatoes will be delivered from thehopper in reverse order of'their size, the smaller potato being firstdelivered while the larger potatoes are delayed in their passage. 7

From the discharge mouth 21 of the hopper '10, the potatoes are loadedthrough a downwardly inclined chute 24 to a supply chamber 25 definedbetween the upper frusto-conical Wall 26 of a stationary shield andsuperstructure 27. The annular wall 26 forms an integral part of thecasting 27 which includes upwardly inclined ribs 28 which support ahorizontal spider 30 across which there are disposed transversesupporting bars 31 upon which the hopper 10 is mounted and which supporta vertically extending supporting channel on which the primary drivemotor 34 is mounted from which the power shaft 20 extends. Also mountedon the horizontal spider 30 is a reduction speed gear housing 38 drivenby the shaft 18 which in turn drives a vertical shaft for. im-

parting rotation to the rotary shell hereinafter to be described.

Directly below the chamber'25 formed by thewall 26, there is providedthe rotary shell 25A mounted for rotation with and supported by theshaft 35. The rotary shell 25A comprises an inverted 'shell havinggenerally downwardly inclined spaced segments 40 radially bounded by theinternal walls 41 extending from the mouths 42-of peripherally arrangedtunnels 43. The rotation of the shell is as indicated by the arrow inFig. 6 and each mouth of the tunnel is preceded by an inwardly curvedvertical guide plate wall 44 by which potatoes descending downwardlyover the segments 40 will be guided for entry into the mouths 42 of thetunnels. In that form of the invention here shown there are five suchannular tunnels, the mouths of which are generally rectangular in shapeand the upper top walls 45 descend from one tunnel to the next. Theinner walls 46 of the tunnels are arcuate and outwardly tapering towardthe outer tunnel walls 41 and the bottom of the tunnel is open topresent the potatoes entering the tunnels to the slicing mechanism. Fromthis arrangement, it will be seen that potatoes delivered in order as tosize move downwardly from the chamber 25 to which they are delivered bythe chute 24 'of the hopper 10 over the segments 40 to be engaged by theguides 44 and delivered to the months 42 of the five tunnels. Since theshell is rotated in the direction indicated, the potatoes will bescooped into the mouths of the tunnels and upper inclined wall 45thereof will urge the potatoes downwardly and at the same time therotation of the shell will move the potatoes in an annular path as theyare being sliced until the slicing consumes the entire article.

Fixedly mounted below the rotary shell including the tunnel members,there is mounted a supporting and cutting structure comprising a centralbase portion 50 having radiating arms 51 to which in a parallel planethere are secured plates 61 disposed between the radiating arms 51 tocomplete a circular configuration. Cutters 52 are rigidly attached to aportion of upper surface of plate 61. At the leading edge of cutter 52,vertically adjustable platens 55 are mounted on the remaining uppersurface of plate 61 in a plane parallel thereto and constitute thesupporting surfaces for the potatoes. The cutters 52 are characterizedby an arcuate cutting edge 54 arranged in opposed relation with respectto the rotation of the'shell. The platens 55 are held down with respectto plate 61 through the action of spring 57 on stud 56. With thisarrangement it will be seen that the platen is capable of verticalmotion relative to the plate 61. To separate the platen 55 in a givenspaced relation to plate 61 there is provided a plurality of adjustingscrews 58, having attached thereto an adjusting arm 59, said arms 59being interconnected by adjusting link 60. This arrangement is such thatas the adjusting link 60 is moved, the arms are rotated to turn thebolts 58 which threadedly adjust themselves through the base plate 61 soas to raise or lower the entire associated platen by a singlemovement'of the plate 60. It will be noted that since the cutterstructure is stationary, such adjustment may be made during theoperation of the machine and as the shell is causing potatoes to travelannularly thereunder within the tunnels. As indicated more clearly inFig. 7, as the shell is rotated, the potatoes are forced rearwardlyprincipally by the frictional drag of the potato across the supportingmembers and the cutting blades'and aided by centrifugal force. As thepotatoes move to the rear of the tunnel, they are forced downwardly bythe inclined upper wall 45 of the tunnels so that the potatoes arecaused to move against the arcuate blades 52 which provide for thesmooth slicing of each potato as it passes each cutter. 'It will be seenthat the platens are normally adjusted to a position slightly below theplane'of the cutting edges of the blades and thus the annular potatomovement is intercepted by the blade and the uniform slice is'removedfrom each potato as it passes each blade. After the potato passes overthe cutting blade it is on a horizontal level which is higher than theplaten by the distance of the thickness of the slice removedthence,before another slicecan be taken the potato must be lowered to the levelof the succeeding platen. This is done by the potato guide 47 best shownin Fig.7, which is here shown with the slope exaggerated as it wouldactually be the distance of the thickness of the slice. Since the spacebelow the blades'is open, the potato slices may freely pass downwardlyas indicated in Fig. 7 and be received for disposition within anysuitable equipment.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention providesa novel, simple and improved device by which potatoes are dischargedinto the feed hoppers, segregated as to size, and are deliveredtherefrom by sizes, the smaller potatoes being first delivered. Upondelivery of the potatoes from the hopper, they are caused to drop uponthe rotating shell and be scooped therefrom into the tunnels. Since thevery small potatoes are first delivered, they are first received withinthe tunnels and are therefore forced downwardly against the blade androtated around the stationary portions of the apparatus so as to besliced to the extent that they have moved toward the end of the tunnel,thus preventing the potatoes from riding up on the preceding potato andcausing a wedge shaped slice. It will be noted that the accuraterelationship of the blade to the movement of the potatoes is such as toprovide for slanting angular cut of the potatoes and thus to insure asmooth cut surface with a minimum of mutilated starch cells. It willfurther be noted that as the potatoes are sliced, the slices are droppedby gravity for suitable collection and that the potatoes are caused tocontinuously traverse the blade structure to be subjected to successiveblades until the slices have fully consumed the article.

An important feature of the present invention is the fact that there areprovided five tunnel structures within the rotating hood as opposed tofour cutting blade assemblies and their associated platens. Thus, theefiiciency of the apparatus is greatly improved and smooth vibrationlessoperation is enhanced. It will further be noted that since the platentsdirectly preceding the cutting blades are vertically adjustable andsince these platens are stationary, adjustment can be made during theoperation of the device without requiring a shut-down of the apparatusfor such adjustment. It will be further noted that the mounting of theblades is such that they may be readily inserted and removed in a smallincrement of time so that when such blades are to be exchanged orsharpened the required shut-down time of the machine is at a minimum. Inconsidering the foregoing, it will be understood that the structuralfeatures and the design characteristics are presented merely by way ofillustration.

Therefore it is apparent that in carrying out the invention numerouschanges, modifications, and the full use of equivalents may be resortedto without departure from the spirit or scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

- I claim:

1. A rotary slicing apparatus including a fixed cutting blade, androtary means for delivering articles to said blade, said means includinga rotary shell surmounting said blade having a plurality of circularlyarranged arcuately extending elongate article engaging tunnels.

2. A rotary slicing apparatus including a fixed cutting blade, androtary means for delivering articles to said blade, said means includinga rotary shell surmounting said blade having a plurality of circularlyarrnged arcuately extending elongate article engaging tunnels, saidtunnels having openings on the upper surface of the shell for receivingarticles to be sliced.

3. A rotary slicing apparatus including a fixed cutting blade, androtary means for delivering articles to said blade, said means includinga rotary shell surmounting said blade having a plurality of circularlyarranged arcuately extending elongate article engaging tunnels, saidtunnels having openings on the upper surface of the shell for receivingarticles to be sliced and downwardly sloping top Walls for urging saidarticles downwardly into the plane of said blade.

4. A rotary slicing apparatus including a fixed cutting blade, androtary means for delivering articles to said blade, said means includinga rotary shell surmounting said blade having a plurality of circularlyarranged arcuately extending elongate article engaging tunnels, saidtunnels having openings on the upper surface of the shell for receivingarticles to be sliced and downwardly sloping top Walls for urging saidarticles downwardly into the plane of said blade, and a verticallyadjustable relatively stationary platen positioned in front of theblade.

5. A potato slicer including a fixed base member fixedly mounting acircular series of slicing knives, stationary platens interposed betweensaid knives, and rotary means for successively feeding potatoes to saidknives, said platens being vertically adjustable to determine thethickness of the slice cut from each potato in traversing the knives.

6. A potato slicer including a fixed base member fixedly mounting acircular series of slicing knives, stationary platens interposed betweensaid knives and rotary means for successively feeding potatoes to saidknives, said platens being vertically adjustable to determine thethickness of the slice cut from each potato in traversing the knivesduring rotation of said rotary means.

7. A potato slicer including a fixed base member fixedly mounting acircular series of slicing knives, stationary platens interposed betweensaid knives, and rotary means for successively feeding potatoes to saidknives, said rotary means having a plurality of tunnels to receivepotatoes from above and rotate them toward said blades therebelow.

8. The apparatus defined by claim 7 in which there are four cuttingblades and five tunnels.

9. A slicer for forming thin slices of potatoes in preparation for themanufacture of potato chips comprising a potato feed hopper, means insaid hopper for delivering the smaller potatoes of any batch receivedbefore delivery of the larger ones of such batch, a chamber for thereception of potatoes from said hopper, a rotary potato delivery andconveying means for receiving po tatoes from said chamber, a stationarystructure below said rotary means, stationary knives carried by saidstructure, said knives being in the path of travel of potatoes conveyedby said means.

10. A slicer for forming thin slices of potatoes in preparation for themanufacture of potato chips comprising a potato feed hopper, means insaid hopper for delivering the smaller potatoes of any batch receivedbefore delivery of the larger ones of such batch, a chamber for thereception of potatoes from said hopper, a rotary potato delivery andconveying means for receiving potatoes from said chamber, said meanscomprising an inverted shell having a plurality of upwardly open tunnelsto receive potatoes and deliver them therebelow, a stationary structurebelow said rotary means, a plurality of stationary knives carried bysaid structure, said knives being in the path of travel of potatoesconveyed by said means.

11. A slicer for forming thin slices of potatoes in preparation for themanufacture of potato chips comprising a potato feed hopper, means insaid hopper for delivering the smaller potatoes of any batch receivedbefore delivery of the larger one of such batch, a chamber for thereception of potatoes from said hopper, a rotary potato delivery andconveying means for receiving potatoes from said chamber, said meanscomprising an inverted shell having five upwardly open tunnels toreceive potatoes and deliver them therebelow, a stationary structurebelow said rotary means, four stationary knives carried by saidstructure, said knives being in the path of travel of potatoes conveyedby said means, and vertically adjustable platens mounted between saidknives.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS376,904 Phillips Jan. 24, 1886 593,189 Bell Nov. 9, 1897 1,074,637Massey Oct. 7, 1913 1,148,165 Hardie July 27, 1915 1,282,250 Low et alOct. 22, 1918 1,811,991 Bates June 30, 1931 1,882,130 Fielder Oct. 11,1932 1,965,500 Knott July 3, 1934 2,611,408 Farmer Sept. 23, 19522,688,994 Simon et al. Sept. 14, 1954 2,755,835 Puccinelli July 24, 19562,767,752 Stahmer Oct. 23, 1956

